the aftermath

With snowpocolips almost upon us, I think a lot of us east coasters are remembering days that were not too long ago! Hurricane Sandy hit the north-east coast on October 29th of 2012. It brought such devastation to the northeast, damaging and destroying over 305,000 homes in New York alone, left 4 million people in the dark and took 132 lives in just the U.S. alone. The estimated cost of damage it caused is somewhere around $71.4 billion dollars (CRAZY!) It is considered one of the most devastating hurricanes in history.

Some people lost their lives, others their homes, vehicles and belongings. There was massive flooding, power lines completely destroyed, trees literally uprooted destroying anything in their path. Now we are over three months later after the storm. For so many in the New York and New Jersey area, life has returned to normal. However, there is a great number of people who are still working through the aftermath of the storm. Many have had to completely relocate while others have to clean out and gut their homes, churches, businesses, community centers and more. While everyone is eager to rebuild their lives, so many are left without the resources to do so!

I just recently went to take pictures with an organization WE BUILD NY that was started to help people rebuild their homes after the Hurricane. People are still struggling three months later to rebuild their homes. I will share those pictures another day.

My local church community was one hit hard by Sandy. Over 40 families lost everything due to the super storm. Even our church building was destroyed due to the 6 feet of water flooding it. However, even in the midst of destruction, our community gathered together every weekend to go into the neighborhood helping clean and gut homes. It wasn’t like ‘let’s bring our windex and clean up a bit’. It was a ‘everything has to go, the furniture, carpet, belongings, walls, EVERYTHING’. Two weeks after the storm hit, I went out on a Saturday and visited a few of the areas that were hit by Sandy where volunteers were working. Below are just some of the images I captured. You can see more on my Flickr page.

Pastor Henry going over the work orders for the homes they would be gutting

the huzband helped lead a team, little V standing so sure of her work ahead (she was w/me for the day)

MERRICK

owner shared how 6 feet of water came crashing over neighborhood fences, destroying anything in it’s path

FREEPORT

gutting his own home; watching years of memories be torn down in hopes to build new ones

LONG BEACH * following was taken in three different neighborhoods/homes *

volunteer taking a lunch break amidst the hard work

scooping the remainder of the septic system that overflowed and filled the basement

If you would like to get involved in helping those still recovering from Hurricane Sandy, consider checking out: